SANJAY DUTT WILL BE BACK TO BUSINESS ONCE AGAIN: NO, NOT JAIL, BUT ACTING

Bollywood bad boy Sanjay Dutt said he could resume work as early as this weekend after being temporarily bailed from his six-year jail term for arms possession. "I will resume my movie shoots very soon, starting possibly this weekend to meet contractual commitments," said Dutt, sporting prison-cropped hair. "I have to grow my hair back and get into shape," joked the burly actor, who has already spent three weeks behind bars.

The film Kidnapped, directed by Sanjay Gadhvi -- known for last year's top grosser Dhoom 2 (Have a Blast) -- will be one of the first Dutt will start shooting. "Alongside, I will shoot for Dus Kahaniyaan (Ten Stories)," said Dutt, known for his macho image and gangster roles.

With six movies in production, some Rs 75 crores of Bollywood money is riding on Dutt.

The hugely popular star was sentenced to six years in prison on July 31 for possessing illegal weapons received from the plotters of the 1993 Mumbai bombings, which killed 257 people and injured 800.

Dutt has always maintained his innocence, arguing he kept a Kalashnikov assault rifle to protect his family from sectarian violence.

Last month, the Supreme Court agreed to his conditional release after the anti-terror court in Mumbai failed to provide the actor with a copy of its judgment.

The Supreme Court ordered Dutt to turn himself in when his lawyers receive a copy of the judgment later this month.

BAMBOO WORK 'ENRICHES' SANJAY DUTT, WHO IS OUT ON BAIL TODAY

When actor Sanjay Dutt walked free out of Yerwada central prison this morning, he was richer by Rs 25 paid for the work done by him under rigorous imprisonment drill.

"Munnabhai" of the celluloid screen, Dutt, a convict in 1993 Mumbai blast case, who spent three weeks behind bars had been weaving and enmeshing bamboo chairs under "cane work" category of manual labour, said jail superitendent Rajendra Dhamne.

Though the highly paid Bollywood actor known for acting skills, Dutt was treated as an unskilled labourer under training which entitled him to wages of Rs 12.50 for an eight hours shift called "vardi" in jail parlance.

His work hours were counted after he finished learning the job which totalled 16 hours equivalant to "two vardis", at the rate of Rs 12.50, Dhamne said.

The actor sentenced to six years RI under the Arms Act, showed good application at assigned work and made nearly two sets of cane chairs consisting of seat and back-support, jail sources said.

BREATHER FOR SANJAY DUTT: SUPREME COURT GRANTS BAIL, MAY BE RELEASED TOMORROW

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, jailed for six years for receiving guns from gangsters involved in the country's worst bombings.

Dutt, 48, began serving his six year sentence on July 31 in a prison in Pune -- less the 16 months he served while awaiting trial over the bomb attacks which killed 257 people in India's commercial capital of Mumbai in 1993.

Dutt's lawyers said the actor could be released from jail in the city of Pune on Tuesday. "There is a lot of paperwork involved. He is expected to be released tomorrow," said Karan Singh, one of Dutt's lawyers.

The lawyers had petitioned the court against his conviction and sought bail until that petition was ruled on. But they said they could not argue the case as they were yet to get a copy of the judgment of the Mumbai court.

A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice agreed and said that "the nature of the offence and the evidence is very difficult to examine at this stage", and granted bail to Dutt until the lawyers get a copy of the verdict.

An official at the Mumbai court said it could start delivering copies of the sentencing of the 100 people convicted in the case from September. Dutt was among the last of the 100 to be sentenced.

BOLLYWOOD THRILLED

Dutt's appeal said his conviction by a special anti-terrorism court in Mumbai was based on his confession that he had later retracted. "A retracted confession is a weak piece of evidence," the petition said, arguing that the conviction should also be overturned because no arms or ammunition were ever recovered from Dutt or his home.

The petition, which said Dutt should be granted bail because he was "not likely to commit any offence while on bail", urged the court to award him some form of punishment other than jail.

Bollywood, the world's largest film industry by ticket sales, had backed the actor saying he deserved a second chance because he was impulsive but not dangerous.

On Monday, the industry welcomed his bail. "It's fantastic news," said top Bollywood producer Ravi Chopra. "He's learnt the lessons he had to learn and now we hope the court takes a lenient view."

Industry analysts hoped that the actor would be out long enough to complete three underproduction films. "If he is out for, say, 60 days and shoots every day then he should be able to finish them," said Bollywood trade analyst Komal Nahta. "There's about 500 million rupees ($12 million) riding on him."

Dutt, a droopy-eyed, muscular actor, earned fame playing gangsters and the anti-hero and also tried his hand at comedy in recent years.

In jail, he undertook carpentry as prison labor and was paid about half a dollar a day. He ate the frugal jail meals and shared a toilet.

CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS AND YOU'LL KNOW WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH SHANKARDADA ZINDABAD

MEET THE GANDHI OF SHANKARDADA ZINDABAD, WHO TURNS CHIRANJEEVI FROM A GOON TO A GANDHIAN

He was a relatively unknown actor till a couple of years back. But he has given a new definition and a new face to Gandhism in India. The revolution he spawned is so huge that even after a year of the release of Lage Raho Munnabhai, people can't stop preaching the neo-Gandhian's philosophy. That is Dilip Prabhavalkar, who brought about a transformation not only in Sanjay Dutt, but also the very face of protest in India, with his non-violent chat with Munnabhai.

After the release of the film, in many places, especially in the cities, people have started following his philosophy to bring about awareness about the civic responsibility among citizens. And he will soon be seen as the same Gandhi or Bapuji in Shankardada Zindabad.

"Bapu's make-up took more than three hours. I had to have artificial ears, nose, wrinkles, moustache. I am not dark. I am quite fair, so we had to have a tanned look. I had to shave off the hair on my head completely," he says.

What did playing Gandhi's role teach him? "I am very cool by temperament. By playing Bapu, I have imbibed compassion, empathy and benevolence," says the 60-year-old theatre artiste in Marathi.

Was he not scared of playing the role of Gandhi, especially after the world found the best Gandhi in Ben Kinsley? "I was given some tapes and cassettes by Raj Kumar Hirani, the director of the film. I also saw some old Films Division documentaries. Through the films, I realised that Gandhiji used to speak in a monotonous fashion. That is where we took liberties. If we had projected him speaking that way, many could have lost interest. It would have been authentic without being effective. So we changed the tone a little bit."

Prabhavalkar did not stop with watching films, he started reading a la Sanjay Dutt, everythign about Gandhi that he could lay his hands on. "I was greatly helped by a book by an American journalist, Louis Fisher, who called him a saint. This book was like the Bible, the Gita and the Quran for the role."

Not an auspicious start to J D Chakravarthy's Homam

Nothing seems to work out for J D Chakravarthy, or Gaddam Chakravarthy as you affectionately or disgustingly call him. Because the more his godfather, Ramgopal Varma, tries to pull him up, the more his stars are working against him. His new film Homam, with Jagapati Babu and Mamata Mohandas, has been struggling to get off, we hear. Initially, JD boasted that Mithun Chakraborty would be the villian of the film. And, today he says he has dates problems. Is it really true that Mithun Chakraborty gave his consent for the film, or is it just a figment of your fertile imagination to derive mileage for Homam, JD? We don't want to dwell deep into it, but the news is Mahesh Manjrekar is replacing Mithun. Manjrekar is no stranger to Tollywood, he had earlier acted in a film called Okkadunnadu. And, before that, he had directed Vaastav in Bollywood, which fetched Sanjay Dutt the best actor award. And, he went on to do Astitva with Rekha, which was appreciated by the discerning audiences.

Double treat for Amitabh Bachchan fans

It will be a double Bachchan treat for cinegoers this week with two releases featuring the superstar of the millennium hitting screens today. Releasing in cinema screens across the world are Apoorva Lakhia's Shootout At Lokhandwala and R Balakrishnan's Cheeni Kum, both of them featuring Big B in key roles.

What comes as an added attraction for the cinebuffs is the fact that both films belong to different genres and thus bring into focus the tremendous versatility of the Big B as an actor. While Shootout at Lokhandwala is a realistic action drama based on a true incident, Cheeni kum is a comedy dealing with the love affair between a 64-year-old played by Amitabh Bachchan, and a 34-year-old played by Tabu.

Shootout at Lokhandwala is inspired by a real life encounter between the police and the Mumbai underworld. In the 1991 incident, the bustling Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai became a virtual war zone, when ACP A A Khan opened fire on five underworld gangsters residing in a building in the area. This daylight encounter lasted six hours and ended with the five gangsters being killed.

The film has evoked tremendous excitement in film circles because of the presence of a ensemble cast comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Vivek Oberoi, Suneil Shetty, Tushar Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan, Rohit Roy, Shabbir Ahluwalia and Abhishek Bachchan in a guest appearance.

While the film has Sanjay Dutt playing the role of ACP Khan, it has Vivek Oberoi playing Maya Dolas, the gangster who was shot dead in the encounter, Tushar Kapoor in the role of Maya Dolas's right hand Dilip Buwa. Sunil Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan and Arbaaz Khan play policemen who were part of the team which surrounded the Lokhandwala Building during the encounter. Amitabh Bachchan plays a lawyer Dhingra in the film.

Shootout At Lokhandwala marks a comeback attempt for actor Vivek Oberoi after many of his films in recent years, barring Omkara have met with a lukewarm response at the box office.

Cheeni Kum, the second film this week featuring Amitabh Bachchan in a romantic musical comedy dealing with the love afair between a 64-year-old man Budhadev Gupta and a 34-year-old woman Nina Verma, played by Tabu.

According to the filmmakers, Cheeni Kum is in all respects an unconventional love story, as it is a love story between two people contrastingly different from one another in terms of age, character and attitude. So, while Buddhadev, chef-cum-owner of London's top Indian restaurant, is an arrogant, pompuous and egoistic man with a singular ambition in life -- cooking, Nina is a beautiful, charming Indian woman who is cool, clam and quiet and always smiling.

It is the falling in love of these two persons against all odds. They decide to get married. Like every true Indian, Buddhadev respectifully comes to Nina's father, a true Gandhian living in Delhi, for her hand. There is just one problem. Om Prakash Verma, Nina's father is 58-year-old, six years younger than Buddhadev, his would be son-in-law.

Even before its release, Cheeni kum has created tremendous buzz in films circles. Infact, the film had its world premiere at the 60th edition of the Cannes film festival earlier this week with Big B himself attending the premiere. The bittersweet romantic comedy struck an instant chord with the audience at Cannes.

The film has been directed by Ad guru R Balakrishnan, who makes his directorial debut with this film. According to Balakrishnan, he scripted it with the one and only Big B and Tabu in mind. ''From the very first day I wanted to make this film with him and Tabu. I felt they were absolutely perfect to play the characters of Buddhadev and Nina,'' Balakrishnan said.

The films has evoked comparisons with Ram Gopal Verma's Nishabd, which shows a 60-year-old man -- played by Amitabh Bachchan -- falling in love with a teenaged girl. Balakrishnan, however, denies any similarity between Nishabd and Cheeni Kum. ''There is no similarity between the two films. Cheeni Kum is an out and out comedy.''

Trade analysts say that Cheeni kum is yet another example of Amitabh Bachchan's amazing versatility which has witnessed the actor comfortably slip into roles that are widely diverse from one another -- whether it be a strict disciplinarian father, a 60-year-old who likes to enjoy life to the fullest, a soldier, a flamboyant father or a 60 plus photographer in love with a teenager.

Soon to follow in the coming weeks is another Big B-starrer Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, whose trailers featuring the superstar have already created tremendous buzz in film circles. Produced by Yashraj films, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom has been directed by Shaad Ali.